Sorrows of the Heart
by Twilight Kitsune
Summary: AU: Ed gets amnesia.
1. Chapter 1

**Sorrows of the Heart**

**Chapter 1**

Nothing could be heard that night, save the pattering of the raindrops over metal. A young boy, his blonde hair plastered to his face from the rain, lay in the arms of a huge suit of armor. An almost peaceful look was on his face, as his breathing slowly labored on. Ignoring the rain, the armor carrying him continued forward, begging to anyone in its path. Behind it trailed drops of blood; bread crumbs marking the trail.

People parted in the streets to let the strange pair through the streets, their faces twisted in expressions of horror, fear, even disgust.

"Help me!" cried the suit of armor, its voice like that of a young boy.

"My brother's hurt! Please someone…. help me…" it trailed, watching hopelessly as people backed away in horror.

Continuing its way up the street, the armor continued to beg for help. It was only when the boy in its arms stirred, that the armor looked at its charge.

"Brother?" it asked.

"Al… don't worry… I'm fine..." said the boy, struggling against his brother's arms.

"No brother, you're hurt. We've got to find someone to look at you."

"I'm fine…" continued the boy, still struggling against the armor's cool embrace.

"Hey you!" yelled an angry voice from nearby. "Let the boy go!"

The armor, Al, turned his attention to the bearer of the voice as the boy fell motionless in his arms, also looking towards the voice.

"Will you help him? My brother?" Al asked, walking quickly towards the man. Yet the old man ignored him.

"What did you do to the boy? How could anyone do something like this to such a young boy? Put him down, you hear? Leave the boy here and leave! Leave and I won't press charges!"

"But…" started Al, thinking desperately of another solution.

Not appearing to hear the armor, the man stepped forward, reaching with shaking hands for the boy. Seeing no other way to get care for his brother, Al handed the boy to the man.

"Now get out of here! Go on! Get!" yelled the man, turning and running indoors with the boy safely in his arms.

"Al…" called the boy, watching the image of his brother fade as he sunk into unconsciousness.

**AN: This is my first Fullmetal Alchemist fic, so please forgive me if characters get too OOC. There may be spoilers in the future or this may turn out to be AU, but since there is no real plot just yet I have no idea. Just be prepared for anything. Also, sorry about the absurdly short chapter; I hope to make the next longer. Thanks for reading. **

** T.K.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorrows of the Heart**

**Chapter 2**

Al walked through the countryside, heading towards the far off village in the distance. His only hope was that people might talk to him, now that the sun was up. Surely it had been the rain that had made him so scary.

_"People are suspicious around here Al. Try to stay on their good side, and stay with me okay? People might not be so paranoid if you're with me." _

_Al smiled inwardly, a devious thought forming in his mind. _

_ "Why, brother?" he asked, "You're so small people might not see you."_

_ "Who are you callin' small!" demanded the brother, his arms flailing as he got angry and started chasing Al through the countryside. _

The memory called a bit of laughter to Al's tired spirit, and gave him a bit more courage to go on.

Opening his amber eyes, the boy looked around the room he was in. Adorning the white walls were a few pictures of landscapes, nothing that particularly caught the boy's attention. In the corner of the room stood a desk, papers scattered haphazardly across it and the chair that sat beside it. In fact, the floor was littered with papers covered in strange symbols that had some meaning to the boy, but however hard he searched for the meaning, it wouldn't come to him. Giving up, he turned his attention to the ceiling where there was nothing but plain whitewash, the same color as the walls. Stretching, the boy noticed that he had apparently injured his side, trouble was, he didn't know how. Sitting up slowly, ignoring the small protests from his side wound, the boy found something else that interested him. His arm was made of metal from the shoulder down. He could move it perfectly fine, and it didn't hurt or anything. But once again, he didn't know why his arm was metal.

Was he born without an arm? That didn't seem likely. Did he get in an accident of some kind? He wasn't sure. In fact, he wasn't sure of anything really. He couldn't even remember his name, or where he was, or how he had gotten there. The whole thing was pretty depressing.

A door the boy had not noticed before opened, revealing a man dressed in a patched old flannel shirt and jeans. Combed back over his scalp, the man's hair was still damp and spots of water still clung to his face. Off-white socks shone just above his old tattered work boots. The look of the old man was one of wear and tear, though no dirt could be found on his person.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, stepping into the room.

The boy turned to look more directly at the man, his amber eyes searching.

"Are you feeling better?" asked the man again.

"Yes… I think." said the boy quietly, sitting slowly up.

"Well good, you've been out almost a week now and I was startin' to get worried. What's your name anyhow?"

"I…I was hoping you could tell me." said the boy, looking down at the floor.

"Have a bit of memory loss do ya? It's just as well, after last week."

"What happened last week?" asked the boy.

"Nothin' you need worry about. Now lay down and relax. I'll bring in somethin' to warm your stomach and we'll see what you remember." said the man, leaving the room.

"So you don't remember anything at all?" asked the old man as he watched the boy polish off another bowl of soup.

"Nothing."

"Do you remember the name Al?"

"It sounds kind of familiar, why?"

"Nothing." said the old man quickly, "Do you want more soup?"

"Yeah!" said the boy eagerly, handing his bowl out for more.

"You sure can eat a lot for such a little thing." said the man with a laugh.

"I'm not little." said the boy.

"Aren't you now? Well, with all the soup you're eatin' it won't be long before you're bigger'n me."

The boy laughed a bit, kind of embarrassed at his outburst. Was he little? For all he knew he was actually tall for his age. Whatever his age was…

"Here ya go." said the man, handing the boy another helping of soup. "What should we call you anyway?"

"I don't know." said the boy, "What should I call you?"

"Oh I'm sorry young man. My name is Jerome, you can call me that if you like."

"Alright… Jerome." said the boy working the name out. "But what should you call me?"

"I don't know. You don't remember any names?"

"No, not really."

"Then I'll just call you "Boy" until we can figure out your name."

"Okay." said Boy, starting into his fifth bowl of soup.

**AN: Okay, so this was another really short chapter… sorry about that. It was longer, but last minute I decided to change a minor detail and it ended up shortening everything so far. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorrows of the Heart**

**Chapter 3**

Boy stood in front of the bathroom mirror, looking himself over. The tattered shirt he had borrowed from Jerome was a bit big, seeing as it hit around his knees, but it would do. It hid his mechanical arm well, as the blue jeans he wore hid his mechanical leg. He wished he could remember why he had fake limbs, but that was second to remembering who he was. He could deal with not knowing how he'd lost his arm and leg, but he couldn't live without knowing who he was. The only clue to his past was a pocket watch that he'd found in his bundle of clothes. It had a strange insignia on the front, a lion circled by strange lines and symbols, and inside the cover was inscribed the word "Remember" and a date. He didn't know what it meant, but he was sure it was important.

Boy stood in front of the bathroom mirror, looking himself over. The tattered shirt he had borrowed from Jerome was a bit big, seeing as it hit around his knees, but it would do. It hid his mechanical arm well, as the blue jeans he wore hid his mechanical leg. He wished he could remember why he had fake limbs, but that was second to remembering who he was. He could deal with not knowing how he'd lost his arm and leg, but he couldn't live without knowing who he was. The only clue to his past was a pocket watch that he'd found in his bundle of clothes. It had a strange insignia on the front, a lion circled by strange lines and symbols, and inside the cover was inscribed the word "Remember" and a date. He didn't know what it meant, but he was sure it was important.

"Boy, are you coming?" called Jerome through the door.

"Yeah, just a minute." answered Boy, as he finished buttoning the shirt. Taking a final look in the mirror, he slid on some old sneakers Jerome had found for him, and opened the door.

"They're a bit big," chuckled Jerome, "but they'll have to do."

Boy just glared at his new friend, not sure what to say. Something about the man's manner was making him mad, but he wasn't sure why. Finally he just changed the subject.

"Let's go do those errands." he said, stomping out the door.

Boy trotted along behind, following Jerome down a long and winding path to the busy marketplace where midday bustle reigned supreme.

"What was that?" asked Boy, pointing to a disturbance in the crowd.

"Nothing." said Jerome, pulling Boy to a nearby cart.

"Hello Jerome, what can I do for you today?" asked the nice cart lady, hanging some herbs from the top of her cart.

"I'm here for some more of that kingsroot you gave me the other day. It worked pretty well."

"Ah yes. For the… say, is this the boy you took in?"

"Yep, this is Boy."

"Boy?"

"Until I can remember my name." said Boy quietly, looking at the various herbs hanging from the cart.

"Ah… Well, at least you're up and around. It'll all come back to you sooner or later."

"Yeah, I guess…"

"Don't be so down. Here, chew on some mint leaves. I picked 'em fresh this morning. They cure everything."

"Thanks." said Boy, accepting the strange green plant the woman held out to him. He picked off a leave and chewed on it for a moment. It had a pretty good taste, and as they paid the cart lady and wandered away, the mint proved to be a very good distraction from Boy's worries. In a few hours time he was chatting with some other boys that looked to be around his age, though he couldn't be sure. Before he knew it, he had joined in a game of ball with the other kids called Swedish. The object of the game was to be the last one standing, with everyone else having been hit with one of the two "Swedish Balls". Surprising even himself, Boy found he was very quick, and good at dodging the small, squishy Swedish Balls. He won a few rounds before Jerome called him away, and they started the short trek home.

"Did you have fun today?" asked Jerome.

"Yeah." said Boy, shifting the weight of the basket he was carrying so it was easier to handle. "I had a blast!"

"Maybe if you're feeling okay tomorrow, you can stop by the market again and see what they're doing."

"That'd be fun." said boy as they approached the humble little house Jerome lived in on the hill at the edge of town. Something about that hill, and the little house on top triggered something in his mind, and looking down at the vegetables he carried, a memory came flashing to him.

_Sprawled across the floor lay a woman in purple, her long brown hair sprayed to the side in its loose tie. Beside her lay an overturned basket and several vegetables. _

_ "Mom?" cried a voice and Boy was surprised to find it was his. _

_ He started running towards her limp form, and heard a gasp from behind him. _

_ He knelt beside her prone form and called for her, finding that someone beside him was doing the same. _

"Boy? Boy?" asked Jerome, a worried look on his face.

Shaking his head, Boy looked at Jerome, the world coming into focus again.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." said Boy, struggling to grasp for the fleeting memory. It had been important, very important. But the harder he tried to remember it, the more it left his reach, refusing to be known. Shaking his head again, Boy stepped into the house and set the basket on the table.

"I'm gonna go lay down for a few minutes okay?"

"Okay. I'll call you for dinner."

"Thanks." called Boy, pushing the door open to his little room and flopping onto his bed. Jerome had removed all of his work stuff from the room, leaving it empty and lifeless. Boy stared at the lone landscape on the wall and felt as though something was missing. No, some**one** was missing. The name Al, had some sort of meaning to it. Jerome had mentioned it, but he hadn't said how he knew of the name. Come to think of it, Jerome hadn't told him anything about how Jerome had found him.

Boy's head started to ache with all the constant thinking, so he shifted himself until he was comfortable, and fell asleep.

"Boy! Dinner!" called Jerome, walking Boy from his dreamless sleep. Boy sat up and stretched, feeling his left arm pop into a comfortable position. Standing, Boy looked around the lonely room once more. Deciding to do something about it later on, he wandered out into the kitchen, lured by the smell of dinner.

"There you are! I've been calling you for a while now. Sit down and fix yourself a plate."

"Thanks." said Boy, sitting down and helping himself to a heaping plateful of food. He was just starting into the beautifully fluffy mashed potatoes when it came back to him.

"Jerome, where did you find me?" he asked around a mouthful of food.

"Find you? That question was out of the blue. What makes you ask?"

"I dunno. Just wondering." said Boy, swallowing his potatoes and taking another scoop.

"Well… I found you out on the street. The man that did this to you was dragging you through town. You were hurt, and the man was all dressed in a suit of armor like he'd just come back from war. He had a red glint to his eyes, so I took you from him and sent him away."

Boy was staring raptly at Jerome, his mind working. Someone had inflicted his injuries? They hadn't been an accident? Yet there was something that didn't fit at all with Jerome's explanation.

"How did you send the guy away?" asked Boy. "Wasn't he all geared up for battle or something?"

"Yes, but he too was injured, giving me somewhat of an advantage. Besides, I had several people standing behind me, and he had none."

Boy nodded and slowly went back to his dinner. The rest of dinner was eaten under idle conversation such as "What was her name again?" and "I really like these carrots. Did you grow them yourself?" Needless to say, the rest of dinner was pretty boring.

Boy went to bed, still unsettled about how he had been found. But sleep overtook him before he could really dwell on it.

Several weeks passed, while Al continued to scour the countryside looking for his brother. Meanwhile, Boy started a fairly normal life in the little town with Jerome. He became one of the best players on most all of the local sports teams as well as doing okay in school. The class he was best at, besides gym, was chemistry. For some reason he had an unexplainable knowledge of all things science. He didn't know how he knew so much, and Jerome had no clue either, so Boy went on working and continued to expand his knowledge. He was happy with his life, up until strange things started happening…

On his way home from practice one fine summer evening, Boy walked home, only to find a strange old woman at the house.

The green dress she wore was covered in a pale shall, hiding most of her figure. There was no doubt she was old, her hair was a dull gray, pulled back into a bun. She smiled as she saw Boy, the smile making her look like a harmless old grandmother. Though Boy had never seen her before, she seemed to know Jerome pretty well.

"Hello." she said as Boy closed the door behind him. "I'm Jerome's sister. It's nice to meet you."

"Hi." said Boy, not sure what to make of her.

"Did you have fun at practice?" asked Jerome with a warm smile from his seat at the table.

"Yeah."

Jerome nodded approvingly, but he was not smiling as usual.

"You are staying home tomorrow."

"Why?" asked Boy, his eyes widening in alarm.

"Your teacher came by today, and we had a nice little chat. Since when have you been taking Alchemy?"

"My chemistry professor talked me into it. I just started this week." Boy said quickly. Jerome had asked him not to take the class, but he hadn't been able to turn down his favorite teacher.

"Boy, you are going to drop that class."

"Why?" asked Boy; he'd really grown fond of that class.

"It is against the laws of nature. I will have no boy of mine going around doing God's work."

"But Jerome, I'm good at it. It's something besides sports that I'm good at!"

"You are good at Chemistry from what Jerome says." Deidre interrupted.

"But it's not the same!" cried Boy, slamming his fists down on the table for all he was worth. A small dent appeared where his left arm had hit. Flooded with emotions, Boy turned and ran for all he was worth.

Calls of "Boy! Boy! Come back here!" rang over the fields as he ran to nowhere in particular, just away.

Boy ran until he could run no further, and collapsed under a huge old willow tree on the other end of town. There he did something he hadn't done in quite a while; he wept. Even after he had woken up without any memories, Boy had stayed dry-eyed, but there was just too much going on now. Jerome was turning on him, strange women were visiting his home, and through it all Boy still wasn't getting his memories back. It was like there was a barrier between his memories and his new life. No matter how hard he tried to get at his old memories, the barrier would not break. Tears of frustration flowed freely as Boy sat there, his breathing starting to come back under control. It was then that he heard a voice.

"Edward?"

**AN: Sorry about the chapter lengths. This story has been going through some last minute editing so there are a few holes that make the story shorter, and choppier. When I get around to revising it (like I have everything else), I'll fill those in. Anyway, thanks for reading the newest chapter, and for all the pretty reviews! I would reply to them, but rumors being what they are, I'll wait until I'm sure reviewer replies aren't outlawed. Hope you liked the chapter!**

**Edit**

**Thanks for reading the revised version. I hope I didn't confuse you too much. Future edits to come. Thanks for Reading!**

**T.K.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorrows of the Heart**

**Chapter 4**

Boy looked up to find himself staring at a tall suit of armor. It was staring at him and asking with a childlike voice, "Brother, is that you?"

Boy leapt backwards at the site of the armor, remembering the story of how he'd been found. With a leap, Boy started to climb the old willow tree, scrambling to get a good grip in his panic.

"Brother, what's wrong? Where are you going?" asked the armor from the bottom of the tree. It didn't try to climb the tree, it just stood there staring up. Boy caught hold of a branch and swung higher, out of the armor's reach.

"You're the one Jerome told me about… the armor." said Boy, secure in his place on the tree.

"Brother, it's me Alphonse. I came back to find you."

Boy looked down into the armor's eyeholes, afraid of what he'd see there, and yet curious about what was in the suit of armor. All he saw were two red lights that had no real explanation behind them. Suddenly an image came to him, a memory.

_Boy felt himself shifted from a cool, metal embrace to the warm arms of a human. His vision blurred, partly by the cold, soaking rain that had covered his body, but partly from his struggle to remain conscious. Turning towards the sound of clanking metal he heard a familiar voice, Jerome's voice, call "Now get out of here! Go on! Get!" _

_Suddenly he was being carried quickly through the rain, but before he reached the warm light of the nearby house, he caught a glimpse of a huge grey blur. _

_"Al…" he called, watching the image fade into darkness. _

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Boy realized that something was not as he'd left it. He wasn't in the arms of the willow tree anymore. Following the length of the metal arms holding him, he found that the suit of armor, Alphonse he had called himself, was holding him.

Boy started shaking as he realized where he was, even his newly remembered memory not comforting him. Still, he stared the armor in the eyes or eyeholes, or whatever they were.

"Brother?" asked the armor quietly, "Do you remember anything?"

Boy sighed, shaking his head. .

"The name Ed, doesn't ring any bells?" questioned the armor.

"No, it doesn't."

"How about Trisha?"

"No." answered Boy, shuffling uncomfortably in the armor's arms.

"Look, your name is Edward Elric. You are Alphonse Elric's older brother. I'm Alphonse." said the armor.

"I'm… Ed?"

"Yes."

"Okay…" said Ed, still extremely confused. "This still isn't familiar. Why isn't it?"

"Brother, there has to be something you remember."

Ed looked at the ground, ashamed, and shook his head.

It was then that Jerome's voice found its way to the three. Ed sat up abruptly and said quietly, "Jerome told me that you were the one who hurt me. I don't think it'd be good if he found us here."

"Then come with me." said Al. "We can go find a way to get your memories back."

"I can't…" started Ed.

"You have to!" said Al. "Brother, we agreed that we'd stick together, that we'd never lose each other. I can't lose you."

Ed looked at the armor that was supposed to be his brother. There was such emotion to that voice, but he couldn't quite connect with it. Something was keeping the voice from helping him. But what was it?

"Get away from him you brute!" hollered Jerome as he came flying down the hill.

Al fled, after setting Ed on the ground of course. Ed stared after them in a kind of shock. He knew he had to find them again, but he wasn't sure how.

"Boy… are you alright?" asked Jerome, panting.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You know, he may know who I am."

"What do you mean?" asked Jerome, straightening slightly.

"He said that he used to know me. Before I came here. They said my name was Ed, and I had a brother, and…"

"They are wrong." said Jerome firmly.

"What are you talking about?" asked Ed.

"That man brought you here hurt beyond repair. He was taking you to the State Alchemists for experiments because he didn't think you'd make it. I… I stopped him. I talked him out of it, and paid him to leave you here…"

"But…" Ed started, but a sharp pain brought darkness and an end to his confusion.

When he woke, Ed found he was in his own room again, the one at Jerome's house. The last afternoon had been lost in the haze of pain that enveloped his head, but one thing seemed to stick. Ed. His name was Ed. Wasn't it? Rubbing his forehead absently, he climbed out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt. Stumbling into the kitchen, he smelled fresh toast and eggs, and quickly forgot his problems from the day before, who could worry when there was food on the table?

Several hours later, Ed was outside the school, happily playing Swedish with some friends in gym. The small Swedish balls zoomed around the group, catching one person in the back of the leg, another in the back of the head, and so on until almost everyone was sitting on the ground, waiting for their chance to rise. Ed smiled evilly, a Swedish ball in his hand as he circled his only standing opponent. This boy was easily twice the size of Ed, and seemed sure of his victory. The two stared each other down, and the race was on. The tall boy leapt forward, firing the ball at Ed's chest. Ducking, Ed flew across the yard away from his opponent. The tall boy sprinted toward Ed, cornering him. Ed smirked as he dodged the incoming Swedish and retaliated, hitting the boy square in the jaw. Tall boy dropped and everyone else rose, laughing. Those on Ed's team swarmed around him, babbling.

"That was great, man!"

"Awesome! We'll win this year's tournament for sure!"

"That was so great! Where did you learn to doge like that?"

The compliments pounded in as Ed beamed, his smile wider than Al had seen it for years.

Sighing, Al watched from the bushes. Ed was so happy. He smiled all the time, and joked, and had friends, and didn't worry about the military or the Philosopher's Stone or his past. Ed had become an innocent again, just happy to be alive and kicking. How could Al take that away from him? There would be no way he could remind his brother of all the horrible things they'd done. That smile, that laugh… it was too precious for words.

Sliding as quietly as he could from behind the hedge, Al made his way out of town.

**AN: Hey, I don't know if I mentioned this before, but Swedish is a real game. We played it at our school from time to time when it was raining. We would be given two baseball sized koosh(sp?) balls and the full run of out little tiny wrestling room where we played. The rules were as follows:**

**1) Once you are hit by the koosh you must sit down, no matter where you are. **

**2) When the person who hit you is hit, you can rise and be back in the game. **

**The object of the game was to be the last one standing. It was a free-for-all, although small alliances formed, and tended to win. (Although this was not always the case, as one person in our class knocked both in a powerful alliance down and saved the class.) The idea ofteams I added to make the game more of a sport, same with the tournaments. I just thought it'd make more sense to work with a half-fabricated game that I know all the rules to instead of some well-known sport that I know nothing about. Swedish is an awesomely fun game to play though. **

**On a more important note, thanks to ish, Isisoftheunderground, monkeybitmytail, ABO, Angel-of-Music1331, St. Jimmy666, crazyanimefreak15, Kiralover2, Reis1gurl, Ryuujin Dragon King, MastahChibeh, and fullmetal 4eva for all of the reviews. I really enjoy the feedback. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**T.K.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorrows of the Heart**

**Chapter 5**

Gazing over the rippling beauty of the local river, Al calmed. He listened to the happy gurgle of the water sliding over the rocks, and looked through the crystal clear water to the smooth, colored stones below. Closing his "eyes", Al sunk far into his memory, remembering the feel of the wind against his skin, the smell of the damp riverbank, the feel of the river water beneath his feet… He always had hope. He always had Ed talking to him, or snoring lightly beside him, or even just his presence to reassure him that everything would be okay. Without his older brother, Al was lost. And yet, he knew that he didn't have the heart to help his brother remember their past. He couldn't force that horrible past on Ed, not if he didn't have to.

Yet, being without Ed left him in bit of a dilemma. Where would he go next? How would he find the philosopher's stone? Sure, Al knew a fair bit about Alchemy, more than most fourteen-year-olds, but he was nothing to Ed. Besides, how could he leave Ed in the town alone? What if the homunculi came back? Ed would have no way to defend himself, and no idea that the homunculi were evil.

Al sighed, drawing a circle in the damp earth beside him. What to do? Well, there was always the chance he could ask someone for help…. but who? Winry was miles away, and knew even less about alchemy than he did. She wouldn't be able to do much defending Ed either. The military would insist on bringing Ed back into his old life, defeating everything he was trying to accomplish. Sensei? She was even farther away than Winry, and she was probably too busy saving cities from floods to help.

No one could help him. He had only one obvious choice; give up his dream of becoming human again. Someone had to protect Ed, and Al seemed to be the only one available. Still, there was the possibility that Al could find someone to help him in the future. Perhaps guarding Ed was the best thing he could do. It would give him plenty of time to think, and eventually he would come up with a decent solution. Eventually…

Ed trudged home, deep in thought with the puzzle of his past still swirling around in his head. Finally he had the time to think things out. He had been found being taken away by a man in armor, and a suit of armor claimed to know him. But in the armor was his brother, or so he claimed. Besides, how could he be the older brother to someone big enough to wear a suit of armor? And there was the memory he had in the tree. He called to something that sounded like armor. He called it Al. Wasn't Al short for Alphonse? Jerome said he'd fought to get Ed away from the armor, but maybe he was exaggerating. Maybe Alphonse had been bringing him to get help, but Jerome had though he was hurting Ed. It was possible… but the whole thing held no memories for him. He needed to find Alphonse and ask him some questions. Surely he was still around. Surely.

Nearby, a friend from school waved to Ed, and he waved back absently. He barely registered the town around him. In fact, it wasn't until he had walked into someone that he realized he wasn't alone.

"Sorry." he mumbled, continuing on.

"Wait!" called the man, but Ed was deep in though, and the current of people was pushing the man in blue farther and farther away.

"Boy!" called Jerome from the other end of the marketplace, and Ed lifted his head automatically.

"Yeah?" he asked, trotting up to the old man.

"You're late. Dinner isn't going to make itself, you know." Jerome scolded, leading Ed away from the marketplace.

"Sorry." Ed mumbled, staring at the ground as he walked, watching the little stones kick out from beneath his feet.

"Boy, what's wrong with you today?" asked Jerome.

"Nothing. I'm just… a little distracted I guess."

"Alright, I'll let it slip this one time. But don't get used to it, I won't always go this easy on you."

"I know." Ed said. "I know."

"Falman, did you find anything?" demanded a male voice on the phone.

"Maybe, I'm not sure." replied Falman.

"What do you mean maybe? You either found him or you didn't."

"I found someone who looked just like him, sir. Only the clothes weren't right, and…"

"Did you question him?"

"I couldn't sir, the crowd carried me away."

"Find him, Falman."

"Yes Colonel."

**AN: Short chapter, I know. That's why it was posted, what, two days after the other one? Thanks to Angel-of-Music1331, crazyanimefreak15, Isisoftheunderground, and PsycoNeko15 for all the wonderful reviews! Thanks for the grammar alert by the way, I'll have to go back and check up on that. But for now I'll just post this chapter, and repost a few of the earlier chapters which have been changed around a bit. It might not be too important just yet, but you might want to over the earlier chapters again sometime in the future. **

** Also, for those diehard spellers out there, what is the correct spelling for Warrant Officer Falman? Is that even the American rank? I don't have any of my American volumes right now, so all I can go off is my English subbed season two. According to that, Falman is Warrant Officer Faruman. I just don't remember what the name was translated into. **

** Thanks for reading!**

** T.K.**


	6. Chapter 6

Sorrows of the Heart

Chapter 6

Trudging on up the road again, Ed looked around for unfamiliar faces. He wasn't sure what Alphonse looked like without his armor, but he was betting he would recognize someone from out of town. Jerome kept such a close eye on Ed that he never got out of the house alone, except for the walk to and from school. It narrowed down his searching time considerably. Still, he had hope. And it was good he did, for moments later he saw a glint of metal in the bushes. Looking nonchalantly over his shoulder for other people, he leapt over the bushes to find himself face to face with the armor.

"Brother!" cried Al in surprise.

"Listen, I need to talk to you." Ed said, sitting down on the soft grass.

"But you'll be late for school." Al said quickly, looking horribly panicked.

"I'll deal with it when I get there. Right now I need to talk to you."

"Why?"

"Because I want to know who I am. I'm sick of living in this tiny little town in the middle of nowhere. I want to know." Ed said vehemently.

Al sat there, unsure of what to say.

"Please, tell me." Ed insisted.

"No. You're better off here." Al said shaking his head.

"Come on Al!"

"Not until I have to. Brother, life here is so good to you. You don't have to worry about anything; you can be yourself. If there was anything I could teach you then I would, but I can't tell you about our past."

"You won't tell me who I am?"

"No."

Ed sat there, frustrated. What could possibly be bad enough to make the rural life good? But the offer to teach him anything was too good to pass up.

"You said you could teach me something." He said slyly.

Al nodded with a clunk.

"Do you know alchemy?" asked Ed.

Al sat back in shock. Ed asking _him_ about alchemy? It just wasn't right. But if it meant being close to Ed, then maybe…

"When?"

"I can sneak out at night."

"Are you sure?" asked Al, not wanting to complicate things for Ed any more than he had to.

"Yes."

So, Ed ran to school and managed to make it just barely late. The teacher took his excuse of being sidetracked and let him off, though Ed had no doubt that Makino-sensei would inform Jerome, and Ed started the day off on a decent note. First was Math, which he wasn't bad at, then English, his worst favorite subject, Human Development which was one of the most embarrassing classes ever invented and Ed always wished Jerome would make him drop that as well. Last, but not least was his favorite class, Chemistry.

There was no way to go wrong in chemistry as far as Ed was concerned. That day they had the task of identifying different items based on their properties, which was a lot of fun for everyone.

After such a great class, for no one can resist the fun of setting things on fire, everyone was smiles. As people filed out of class, the teacher called for Ed to stay behind.

"I didn't see your name on the list for Alchemy this week. You looked like you were having so much fun; what happened?"

"Jerome didn't like me doing it. He made me quit." Ed said, the smile fading from his face.

"It's such a shame. You really are gifted in that area. Perhaps I'll speak to Jerome and see if I can't talk him into letting you come back into the class."

"Great!" Ed said, amazed at his luck.

"Well, you'd best get home. I'll see you Thursday."

"See ya!" called Ed, spinning out the door.

If things worked out right, then Ed may be a great alchemist yet. Then maybe he could talk Alphonse into revealing his past. The way things were going, Ed was ready to believe in anything. It was this attitude that got him in trouble, as a matter of fact. For he was so wound up in his luck and good fortune that he never saw the man in blue until he was grabbed by him and dragged into an alleyway between two houses.

"Edward, sir!" he said, breathing a sigh of relief. He dropped Ed's arm and stepped back, straightening his uniform and saluting the boy.

Ed's eyes widened in shock. Who was this military man? What did he want? And more importantly,

"Did you just say 'sir?'" he asked, staring at the man who was at least a foot taller than him.

"Of course sir. Colonel Mustang sent me to find you and bring you back to headquarters."

_Alright_ thought Ed, _here goes_.

"Who are you?"

"Surely you remember me. We met on the train Bald hijacked. I work for the colonel. My name's Falman."

"Okay… Who's this Mustang?"

Falman's jaw dropped through the ground.

"You're kidding." He said in amazement.

"I'm not. I've never…"

"Officer Falman!" called a voice, interrupting him.

"Al, good to see you. Could you tell me what's wrong with your brother?"

Ed looked up at Al, surprised. This man really did know him from before.

"He hit his head sir. I was taking him to see a doctor, but he ran away."

"Well it's no wonder. You aren't the friendliest looking person in the world." he turned to Ed, "When you feel better remember to get in contact with Colonel Mustang alright? He's looking for you."

"Okay." Ed said, watching in awe as Falman walked down the alley and disappeared into the crowd.

"Can you explain that?" he asked.

"That was Officer Falman." Al said, looking down at the end of the alley he had come form, obviously nervous about being seen.

"Yeah, I got that part. Who's Colonel Mustang?"

"He's a Colonel that works for the military."

"Thanks for stating the obvious. How do these people know me? Why did Falman call me sir?"

"I don't want to…"

"I know you don't want to tell me. I get that. But I need to know. Are those guys out to get me? Should I be worried? Should I go running to them and ask about my past? What?"

Al shook his head and pulled Ed toward the back of the alley, talking.

"Don't worry about them. Not for now."

"Come on Al, if there's some big shot Colonel after me do you think I'll be safe sitting around doing nothing?"

"Fine." Al said. "Come on."

**AN: **

**Angel-of-Music1331: Thanks for the spelling checks. I'm always self conscious about my spelling and grammar and stuff… **

**crazyanimefreak15: Thanks for the help with Falman's rank! But could you give me that site again? It didn't show in your review. **

**smeg1: You would be right. Things aren't going to go well for Ed at all…**

**WildfireDreams****, Monk of the Neko, and Isisoftheunderground: Thanks for all the praise. Cookies to all of you! **

**anelephant****: I updated. It wasn't very fast, but it was the best I could do. **

**ABO: Nice job catching up. 2) I'm glad to be of help for the Conspiracy. 3) Thanks! Now you've got me laughing too… 4) Gotta love Stargate! 5) Can I have the Dir en Grey CD? I'm a sucker for anything Japanese… Great review! **

**Cookies to all reviewers! (I've been around ABO too long…) Sorry for such a long time between updates…. I've been busy with school and all… In fact I should be doing my 20th Century HW right now… Oh well. Thanks for reading! **

**T.K.**


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